Halo: Agent Locke
by Ripa' Moram
Summary: Agent Locke and Rtas Vadum journey after John-117 to bring him back to the UNSC, but are confronted by an old foe. Can they defeat the parasite of time?
1. Chapter 1

**Halo: Agent Locke**

**The scene is set after Agent Jameson Locke (Who will be referred to as just Locke) and Arbiter have an intense talk about John 117 and Locke's true mission. watch?v=IM6ejQO7nrs That link shows what I'm talking about. Anyways! On with the story! I hope you enjoy!**

After the talk with Arbiter, Locke was beginning to think about what would happen if he really did find 117. He was most definitely surprised at the Arbiter titling the Master Chief as a friend. But even the most brutal and noble Sangheili can befriend a "Demon," in their eyes. Locke's deep thought was interrupted, as a massive promethean…. thing… shot out from the ground, causing Locke to stagger and go down on one knee. The promethean fired multiple pulse grenades, then sunk back into the hot sand, only to pop up yet again like a worm, and fire even more pulse grenades. Locke was caught off guard, and was very quickly overwhelmed by the promethean worm's strategy. His shoulder burned like hell and he realized he got hit with one of the pulse grenades, rendering his shields defenseless. The worm rose from the ground again, realizing that its strategic bombard of chaos had worked, and went for the killing blow. It sprang from the ground and was in the air for what seemed like an eternity. All out of options, Locke closed his eyes and sprayed aimlessly at the airborne worm. To his surprise, he wasn't touched. Maybe his rapid fire had killed the worm. That was unlikely of course, he knew that. He opened his eyes and stood up, finally discovering his savior.

The largest sangheili he had ever seen was breathing heavily by the slowly disintegrating promethean. The elite was around 10ft tall, with dark grey skin, shown in the spaces of his armor. However he was wearing an extremely light-weight helmet, covering only his mandibles and the top of his head. His armor was a shimmering white, and looked like a bright gem in a sea of quartz. "I am Rtas 'Vadum, yet some call me shipmaster," Rtas said in a deep booming voice. "Me and my brethren will accompany you on your journey, until the Arbiter is ready is join us." Locke stood up. "Thanks," he said, "But I don't need your help." Rtas chuckled. "Just like you didn't need my help with that promethean? If it weren't for me and my energy sword, I'm sure you would be decapitated by that worm's seven layers of metal teeth." Locke tensed up. Rtas was right. He needed the sangheilis' help. "Alright," Locke replied. "But only until the Arbiter joins us, then you must leave." Rtas nodded, "Fair enough Agent Locke, but until then you are stuck with me and my warriors." Locke agreed, and the company continued on through the desert, in search of the Master Chief.

As they neared the edge of the desert, they looked into the jungle that stood before them. None of them knew the dangers that lurked deep within the massive, extravagant tangle of trees. "We should cut straight through, it will take too long to go around," Rtas said. "What if there are more prometheans?" One of the more cowardly elites replied. "No matter, we will go through the forest with speed and cunning, what say you sangheili warriors?" Rtas boomed. They all roared, even the cowardly elite was motivated by the fierce war leader. Locke nodded towards Rtas and they trotted into the jungle, weapons raised. Thousands of sounds echoed through the area, bouncing off the cacao and jungle trees. A small orange light shown through the upper forest leaves, and at first Locke thought it was the sun. But then he walked closer, and closed, finally realizing that it was a dormant promethean jaguar, sleeping in the tree. Locke whispered to Rtas and his elites, "Don't make any sound! There is a sleeping promethean!" Locke spat out the last few words, as he was out of breath. The sangheili slowly creeped past until they came to the other side. They all released a massive, grateful sigh. But right as they were about to leave, a stick crackled under one of the larger elites foot. They all looked at each other, eyes open wide.

Rtas' sword lit up, and he roared. The promethean charged at one of the scouting elites who just so happened to be armed with only a small dagger made out of light hycrelium, a light metal from Sanghelios that also made up the base of the Energy Sword. The elite dove out of the way, nearly missing the 3 inch claws of the promethean jaguar. Rtas swiftly ran at the promethean, slicing through one of its arms and causing it to howl in pain. He dodged two or three swipes by the promethean and struck again, this time with perfect accuracy. The promethean fell to the ground, lifeless. Its luminescent orange faded, and it slowly started deteriorating in orange and yellow particles. "That was close," said Locke. "Indeed, we need to be prepared for more beasts such as this." The elites nodded in understanding, and the group continued through the deep jungle. The many noises broke nearly everyone's concentration, yet Locke found it peaceful. He thought about home, and the comfort of it. He annihilated these thoughts with haste. "Spartans don't think like that, focus Locke," he thought to himself. But he kept drifting off, it was inevitable.

He thought about many things spartans shouldn't. He thought about relaxation and a nice vacation from all the war, fighting, and killing. He thought about Tori, his girlfriend. The UNSC didn't know about the two spartans relationship, and Locke wasn't going to tell them. A class one spartan with a class two spartan was frowned upon anyways, even though having a relationship as a spartan was bad enough. The group kept going until they found a forerunner artifact. It was a similar design to that of the _Forerunner Dreadnought_, that the Prophet of Truth used to travel the _The Ark_. The artifact was much smaller however, and didn't look as if it could fly. They journeyed into the structure to find an extravagant blue light bridge, leading to a control panel in the center of the building. They walked along the bridge to the edge of the control panel. Rtas stepped forward, "We should not activate it until we find out what it is." Locke shook his head, "We have no choice, we don't know this place and our journey is already at risk. We need to take a chance." A deep, sinister, booming voice came from below. "Mwhahahaha, one is cautious, while the other is hasty." "The Gravemind?" Locke asked. "We will exist together soon, two corpses in one grave, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." "Come beast! And face your destroyer!" Rtas yells. Two giant tentacles come up from below the light bridge, and whack Locke and Rtas back to the entrance to the building. "We must activate it, it's our only hope!" Locke yelled to the sangheili. "Fine, we will try. Forward warriors! And fear not pain or death!" Rtas boomed. Flood combat forms sprung at the warriors and the two fearless battalions clashed.


	2. Chapter 2: Installation 07

**Halo: Agent Locke Chapter 2**

**This continues the battle between the Gravemind and Rtas Vadam's men. Agent Locke is figuring out how to activate the forerunner structure. This chapter is WAY longer than the first one so get some snacks and a drink. lol. Hope you enjoy!**

Rtas and his warriors ran at the flood, hacking and slashing at their infected bodies. The flood outnumbered the sangheili about twelve to one, but the sangheili were tearing through the flood with precision and strength. (Even the cowardly one) The Gravemind boomed words of discouragement and prophesied about their destruction, but the elites kept cutting through the lines of the flood. One of the bulkier elites mounted a plasma cannon on to a platform, slightly higher than the light bridge. Waves upon waves of flood fell to the might of the sangheili warriors. While the flood were distracted by the elites, Locke slipped past them and sprinted towards the control panel. Tank flood forms stood guard at the edge of the light bridge, and Locke slid under them firing at their bodies and screaming a war cry. The giants fell, pounds of lead in their heads and torso. Locke hastily slammed his hand down on the control panel, activated a giant pulse of light that rendered all the flood within a five-mile radius lifeless. Except the Gravemind…. Everyone in the building felt a massive jerk forward, and a few sangheili almost lost their balance. Quickly after the elites yelled and roared mighty roars. Rtas was talking in his native tongue to many of the other sangheili. The Gravemind released a deep, heavy breath.

"You see, parasite. Your infected are weak to the sword of the sangheili, and you shall die by a sangheili blade." Rtas boldly stated. The Gravemind simply chuckled.

"I thought higher of you, Rtas. Thel Vadam thinks very strongly of you." Rtas' men had faces of absolute disgust in the massive organism know as the Gravemind. Locke fired at the Gravemind and all of Rtas' men followed. The Gravemind sunk back down into the giant metal crevice, but not before lashing his tentacles at the sangheili warriors and Agent Locke.

Rtas and his men figured that they had escaped the flood for a while, but Locke was not so sure. He gazed down into the gaping hole below him, to find nothing but total darkness. They continued out of the structure and stopped immediately, in their tracks. The jungle was gone. Rtas and Agent Locke stood in a lush forest, nothing like a jungle. The trees were birch and oak, not cacao and rich, darker trees like in the jungle. The mandibles of all the sangheili warriors dropped. Even the two mandibles that Rtas Vadam had lost were hanging limply, as if he were dead.

"What happened?" Locke asked.

"I do not know spartan, but I believe when you activated the panel it teleported us to the nearest forerunner artifact." Rtas said. "But that doesn't make any sense, we aren't anywhere near to a forerunner artifact." Locke said, shocked.

"Look down, human."

Agent Locke simply looked at the ground to find the many shades of grey and orange that existed in the forerunner design. He started looking around at everything trying to find that everything except what stood in front of him was forerunner. He looked behind him, to find the most massive forerunner structure he had ever seen…

"Installation 07, Agent Locke. The Zeta Halo." Rtas reveled in his words.

"You mean there's another halo?" Agent Locke asked in complete shock.

"Yes, spartan. There are seven in all, yet many others were destroyed in the premature activation of Installation 04B."

"John…" Locke muttered. "How are we going to get back?"

"In every installation there is an Oracle, and the Oracle may be able to tell us how."

"You mean Mendicant Bias? The psycho in charge of this ring? You gotta be joking."

"032 Mendicant Bias is dead Agent Locke, a new Oracle has been chosen."

"Monitor Rtas, they aren't Oracles, they are monitors."

"Hold your tongue, our religious beliefs need not interfere with yours, we will go to the… Monitor, none the less."

"Fine, then let's get moving." Agent Locke spat. The company continued to the control room to hear a familiar humming sound.

"Oh shit," Locke said. It was 343 Guilty Spark. His body was makeshift and very poorly reconstructed. His light was flickering, and went from orange to red to blue without warning.

"Reclaimer! Hello, I am -" He was interrupted by Rtas.

"This is blasphemy! You are supposed to be dead."

"I understand the premature activation of Installation 04B was unacceptable, but I was saved and reconstructed by my sentinels. However, I am unaware of how I got off of the ring. All I know is that Installation 07 is still intact, and that you previously had a minor flood problem. Am I wrong?"

"How did you…"

"I have expanded the previous limitations of the other monitors. You see, I am THE monitor now, and I am in control of the entire Halo Array. The Ark is being repaired, but I will continue to activate the rings until they completely eradicate the flood."

"No Oracle, you will not. Your previous actions nearly cost you your life, there will not be enough of your pathetic body to be rebuilt this time."

"Unacceptable. Such a waste. However, I will need your help reclaimer, so you must abide or you will be forced to activate them as soon as possible."

"No way…" Agent Locke raised his weapon. The sangheili drew their swords, and sentinels flew up from behind 343 Guilty Spark.

"Stand your ground elites, we shall not falter until the world is cleansed from this vermin."

The battle raged on, and hundreds of sentinels fell to the ground before they finally exhausted their foe. "You see, Oracle. We will not stop until you have been defeated." Rtas roared to his elites.

"Funny, my sentinels believe the same thing. You will not destroy this installation. In fact, you have no way of destroying this installation or leaving it, so I shall not further exhaust my resources attempting to destroy you. Unless you activate the ring, you will not escape from here… alive." 343 Guilty Spark hummed as he was successful in representing his case, they wouldn't make it out unless they had his help, and he had theirs. "He's right." Locke said, realizing the unfortunate truth.

"No Agent Locke, we will make it without obliterating all life in the galaxy."

"But how? We can't get anywhere without the Monitor." Agent Locke said. Rtas walked over to Locke and said quietly, "But he can't either. These oracles limited to teleportation on their own ring, not throughout the galaxy."

"So you're saying both us and that light-bulb looking bastard, are stuck here?"

"Indeed." Rtas nodded. "We should destroy the Oracle, and then continue to search around halo for a teleportation device.. To anywhere. At least it will be better than here."

"Alright. Let's do it." Locke raised his weapon and reloaded.

"But, what are you doing? Reclaimer! This is unacceptable, you will not live to see another day! How dare you raise your weapon in the presence of-" Multiple bullets pierced 343 Guilty Spark's shields, and he immediately backed away as his sentinels fired laser after laser. Spark kept screaming remarks about the unacceptableness of the entire scenario, but no one was listening. Hundreds upon hundreds of sentinels fell, and if it weren't for the extra amount of ammo they brought, all of the warriors would be dead. The battle intensified very quickly, yet only one elite fell and was killed. Coward. Soon Rtas saw an opening and charged through the piles of deactivated sentinels and dove out after Spark. He grabbed him and sprinted as hard as he could back to his elites. "Stand down sentinels! Or your leader will be permanently deactivated!" The sentinels halted their fire.

"Unacceptable! Release me at once!"

"Not unless you want your entire body to be filled with lead." Agent Locke said, striking fear into Spark.

"Fine, I will abide by your decisions, but I will not continue along with your plan for long."

"Rtas, go retrieve the index, and keep it safe."

"Of course, it will be safe in the hands of me and my sangheili brethren." Multiple elites stood taller, being motivated by Rtas' words.

"Take us to the nearest teleportation device on the ring. Now!"

"Of course Reclaimer!" Spark said fearfully. In a flash of orange and yellow light, Agent Locke and all the elites were transported to an unknown location.

"Ah yes, here we are. The primary teleportation device of the entire halo array. Unfortunately this installation only has a few teleportation outlets, and they are all within the Halo Array. But if you truly wish to leave this place, there may still be hope. Around three hundred-thousand years ago, a sangheili aircraft landed on this ring, immediately it attempted to destroy 032 Mendicant Bias, which was completely unacceptable at the time. They were slaughtered, and their corpses incinerated. They claimed that 032 Mendicant Bias was a caretaker of the _Sacred Rings_ and an instigator of some sort of _Great Journey. _They were obviously mad. But anyways, the sangheili aircraft may still be operational, thus allowing you to leave this installation."

"Excellent, take us there."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Oracle, take us to the landing place of the sangheili aircraft."

"I am afraid that information is unknown to me at the time, and my construct has suffered considerable damage in the past few years, thanks to your previous reclaimer SPARTAN John-117 and your new reclaimer Agent Jameson Locke."

"Oracle, take us the sangheili aircraft at once."

"Apologies, but my scanning program has faltered, and preparations for such a massive scan… the entire Installation must be scanned because I do not know the whereabouts of such an aircraft. The preparation you suggest could take years, even decades."

"We don't have enough time Spark," Agent Locke said exasperated.

"Well I'm afraid I can offer no more assistance."

"Maybe not… Send out your sentinels to scout all the structures and facilities on this halo." Rtas said. 343 Guilty Spark was obviously displeased with Rtas' suggestion. He was acting as if everything he had said so far was a lie. Maybe it was.

"Fine," Spark said, "I have sent my sentinels to search for the aircraft."

"And now we wait… Take us to the Halo Control room Oracle," Rtas ordered.

"By your command.. R-..tas.." 343 Guilty Spark buzzed and vibrated, having a hard time computing and comprehending his surroundings. The anti-gravity shield him faltered, and he fell to the ground.

"Spark! Do not trick us, take us to the control panel!" Locke yelled and kicked the no longer aerial Guilty Spark.

"Agent Locke, do not be so quick to judge. These actions are signs of rampancy, and we already knew that this Oracle has gone mad. Also, you must consider he was hit by an extremely powerful laser, capable of completely incinerating any other A.I. System, so his rampancy may only be getting worse."

"Let's hope he isn't too insane, we'll need his help just a little bit longer." Guilty Spark floated back upwards, his system fully operational once again.

"Did I miss something? I seem to have lost control of my system for a moment, how embarrassing. Shall we continue?"

"Yes Oracle, take us to the Control Room of this Ring."

"_Of course your lordship, I live to serve."_ Spark said, sarcastically. The company was teleported to the main control room of halo, where they waited and talked for quite some time, until finally a sentinel whizzed into the control room, and exchanged data with 343 Guilty Spark.

"Gentlemen…. The ship has been found."


	3. Chapter 3

**Halo: Agent Locke Chapter 3**

**This time 343 Guilty Spark, Rtas Vadam and Agent Locke are stuck on **

**The Zeta Halo (Installation 07) and are searching for a sangheili aircraft to get off that blasted ring. **

The sangheili stared at each other, relieved that they would finally get off the ring and back safely in a battle-cruiser or a corvette. "Oracle, take us there with haste." Rtas said.

"Certainly," 343 Guilty Spark was obviously angry that he had to teleport the group of warriors so many times. In a whizz of orange and yellow light, they appeared before a massive sangheili _CAS_-class assault carrier.

"Ah, let us board the aircraft quickly. I feel our journey is nearing an end." Rtas said gratefully.

"Really? Cause' I think we're just getting started." Locke said.

"Let us board the aircraft. The sooner we leave this ring, the sooner we will be able to contact the Arbiter about its discovery. We will glass it as soon as possible." Rtas said. That tipped 343 Guilty Spark over the edge. "You will destroy this Installation… Unacceptable!" Spark fired an extremely powerful laser, killing a sangheili warrior. "You have dishonored me and my men for the last time Oracle." Rtas yanked Spark from the air, and thrust his energy sword through the Monitor's structure. It was finished. A few elites ran over to it and fired multiple rounds into it, kicked it, and stuck plasma grenades to its outer shields. There was no way in heaven or on earth, that it would survive. "Finally, that blasphemous idiot is gone. Let's go home warriors." They all boarded the aircraft, and set out into space. "I have contacted Thel, Agent Locke. He is sending battle cruisers to our location immediately. This ring is unfortunately the furthest away from others, so it may take some time. Nevertheless, it will be destroyed." Rtas suddenly realized a red light at the control panel, blinking over and over again.

"Shipmaster! Storm Battle Cruisers from the Covenant Remnant are exiting slipspace near our location! Staggered line! They outnumber us, three to one!"

"Then it is even fight, all stations fire at once! Burn their mongrel hides!" (I couldn't help putting that quote in there) The battle was gruesome, if it weren't for the ship's covenant A.I. system the crew wouldn't be big enough.

Another ship exited slipspace, but it wasn't a battle cruiser.

"Shipmaster, how could the Covenant Remnant still have a _CAS-_class assault carrier? All of those were destroyed at the battle against the Prophet of Truth's fleet."

"It is the _Song of Retribution_… The flagship of Jul 'Mdama, the Didact's hand…"

"Did you say the Didact's hand?" Agent Locke yelled.

"Yes, SPARTAN Locke. Jul 'Mdama is the leader of the covenant remnant. I believe he wants revenge." The battle waged on. Two of the three Storm Battle Cruisers were falling apart, and all that remained was Jul 'Mdama's flagship and one more battle cruiser. "Keep firing warriors! Aim for the area on the ship lacking armor!" Rtas roared. They were losing the fight. Rtas knew it. They might have destroyed two of the cruisers, but the ship's shields were failing, and the _Song of Retribution _was doing an extreme amount of damage to the hull of the ship.

"Shipmaster! The shields are down! The _Song of Retribution_ is readying its plasma torpedoes!"

"Open up a slipspace portal Commander, but before you do, fire the main glassing cannon at the control room of the Installation. If the torpedoes reach us by then, I'm afraid we'll have to go down fighting."

"Yes, Rtas." The commander said something in sangheili, pushed a few buttons, and a massive ray of pink and blue light erupted out of the center of the ship, nearly destroying the seventh installation.

"Get us out of here!" Agent Locke yelled.

"Take us home, T'zhukan," Rtas commanded. Immediately the ship entered slipspace and exited new the outer rim of Sanghelios, the home planet of the sangheili.

"It is good to be home, T'zhukan. My brothers, we made it!" Rtas yelled. All of the elites followed with war cries and roars. The cruiser was filled with relief and glory. All of the sangheili were bowing to each other in respect and honor. They made it.. But the job wasn't done just yet. As the crew celebrated, a giant explosion the size of a city was seen on Sanghelios, and all of the elites fell silent.

"Rtas… what… was that?" T'zhukan said.

"Jul 'Mdama beat us here, and he is sending his forces to take Sanghelios for the Covenant Remnant." Rtas said angrily as he slammed his hand down on his gravity chair.

"Sir! Phantoms!" Around 50 phantoms flew by the deck towards the state of Vadam.

"Tell Arbiter to come here immediately, and give him the slipspace coordinates."

"Yes Shipmaster.." Soon around fifty Battle Cruisers exited slipspace, and dropships were sent out of the hanger to the different states of Sanghelios.

"Commander, prepare a dropship for immediate launch. Agent Locke, this way." T'zhukan nodded as Agent Locke and three other elites followed Rtas to the hanger.

The carrier's hanger was most definitely the largest he had ever seen, capable of holding around 100 dropships and about 50 phantoms at once. A ranger classed sangheili approached Rtas.

"Sir, the dropship is ready for launch. Are you sure you only need these men?"

"Yes I am sure. Agent Locke, warriors.. Climb in." The group followed orders and climbed in. The dropship detached from it's holding claw, and everyone in the dropship felt a jerk forward. Rtas stood up.

"Are you ready, elites? In a moment we shall face the very enemies that were once our brothers. Today we face the warriors that have betrayed us! The warriors that swear their lives to the beliefs that turned their backs on us! Today sangheili, we fight the loyalists, the storms, the covenant remnant, whatever you want to call them. But know this. Whatever they are called the still committed the crime of heresy against their own brothers! Banish them from the very planet from which they came, and rid them of your sight! Do it for honor and glory!" The dropship hatch opened, and the warriors jumped out plasma rifles and carbines full of ammunition. Agent Locke ran towards an elite minor, and slid under him while placing a grenade on his leg. The elite howled as the plasma grenade exploded and sent him flying. Locke looked around, and saw Rtas slicing and hacking at five different minors with an energy sword, killing them all with prowess and perfect precision. In the distance he saw an army of around fifty Ultras. All of the storm elites had fallen, and Rtas's group (including Agent Locke) was standing still, yet gazing at the army approaching them. All of the Ultras were painted with black and gold designs, and they all carried Gravity Hammers. The battle wasn't going to end well. The Ultras kept marching on towards the separatist forces, while they were taking little damage from the carbines and plasma rifles Rtas's men were using. A few Ultras fell, but the army kept marching on.

"Fall back!" Rtas screamed. The Ultras sped up, from a jog to a run, to an all out sprint. Rtas's forces got the hint. Most ran away from the Ultras towards Rtas who was retreating quickly, while some back-pedaled and fired at the oncoming horde of Gravity Hammers and heavy armor. Around thirty Ultras were left, but they were gaining FAST. In about twenty seconds they would reach Rtas, and about ten seconds they would reach the first line of elites.

"Rtas, tell my family I died in honor." An elite named Fel 'Vadam told Rtas, as a tear slipped down his leathery skin.

"Fel no!" Rtas yelled at Fel and pleaded him not to sacrifice himself, but to no avail. Fel charged at the oncoming horde, lighting five plasma grenades and sticking them to his chest. The Ultras stopped in their tracks and tried to turn around, but many slipped and fell. Fel exploded, taking the entire group of Ultras with him.

"Fel…"


End file.
